A ordem de constituintes nas sentenças da língua Mebêngôkre Kayapó

Abstract

This research aims to describe, analyze, and document the order of constituents in sentences of the Mebêngôkre language (Kayapó), belonging to the Macro-Jê language family and the Jê language group. The study is based on data collected through linguistic questionnaires with lists of sentences and oral narratives, thus obtaining samples of controlled and uncontrolled speech. This methodology makes it possible to observe the arrangement of constituents both in isolated structures and in broader discursive contexts. The sentences were elicited and translated by speakers of Mebêngôkre and Portuguese, residing in the municipality of São Félix do Xingu, state of Pará. The analysis revisits the work of Menezes (2018), which investigates the properties that allow the identification of the lexical and functional categories of the language, fundamental to understanding the structure of sentences. The distinction between these categories is delimited based on semantic, morphological, and syntactic criteria, as discussed in theoretical frameworks such as Chung (2014), Radford (1998), and Basilio (2013). Furthermore, the principles of generative grammar, as proposed by Chomsky (1965), underpin controlled elicitation and acceptability judgments, allowing for the identification of the limits of the grammar internalized by speakers. The research also engages with studies in typology and functional linguistics, considering contributions from Greenberg (1963) on universal word order patterns, Comrie (1989) on syntactic alignment and variation, Givón (1995) on discursive and pragmatic functions in sentence structure, and Tallerman (2011) on morphosyntax and argument structure. Finally, the work of Menezes (2018) provides specific insights into the description of constituent order in Mebêngôkre, highlighting how lexical and functional categories influence the syntactic organization of sentences, both in isolation and in narrative contexts. It is hoped that the results of this research will contribute to the advancement

of linguistic studies on Brazilian indigenous languages and to the development of didactic- pedagogical resources, such as grammars and support materials, to strengthen and value the Mebêngôkre language.